tities of snow fell in the North, and in the South a temperature of fifteen degrees below freezing was registered.

18. The Guion Line steamer Abyssinia, five days out from New York, laden with cotton, found to be on fire. Shortly after the discovery another steamer hove in sight and took off the passengers and crew, 150 in number, who were about to take to the boats. The Abyssinia burnt to the water's edge.

19. The tobacco monopoly in the interior of Persia, granted to the European syndicate, abolished, in consequence of the opposition of the chief priest of the Mollahs.

In the Chamber of Deputies, on the Factory Labour (Women and Children) Bill, M. Léon Say's amendment to specify Sunday as the weekly day of rest rejected by 311 to 206 votes.

21. The barriers of the old city of Vienna, simultaneously removed, whereby its area was extended to the surrounding suburbs, and would consist of 178 square kilometres instead of 55, and the population of 1,300,000 instead of 400,000 inhabitants.

The trial of the two Dukes of Vilarosa for the murder of Lieutenant Leone, the suitor of their sister, after lasting three months, resulted in the acquittal of one brother and the sentence of the other to five years' imprisonment. The trial had been removed from Palermo to Naples in consequence of the Dukes' influence at the former, but it was believed that at Naples also the jury had been influenced.

Dr. J. W. Bardsley, Bishop of Sodor and Man, translated to the see of Carlisle, vacant by the death of Dr. H. Goodwin.

All Saints' Church, Hertford, a fine old building, with some good memorial windows, totally destroyed by fire, the parish register alone being saved.

22. In the Queen's Bench division the sensational case of Osborne v. Hargreave heard before Mr. Justice Denman and a special jury, after four days' trial, suddenly collapsed. The plaintiff, who had brought an action for slander in respect of some jewels alleged to have been stolen, was so identified with the theft that her counsel threw up their briefs.

Mr. James Sexton Simonds appointed chief officer of the London Fire Brigade in succession to Sir E. M. Shaw, resigned.

Mr. Alexander Jacob, a Simla jeweller, charged with criminally misappropriating 23 lakhs of rupees deposited with him by the Nizam of Hyderabad for the purchase of a large diamond, acquitted after a prolonged trial. The diamond had been valued at 250,000l.

After the Hunza fort had been gallantly stormed by Captain Colin Mackenzie, the other villages were occupied without resistance, and the Hunzai completely submitted themselves to British rule.

23. A French lugger lying in Antwerp Harbour, laden with dynamite, exploded with terrible consequences. The vessel was blown to pieces, and all on board, as well as a lighter alongside, but all the men, with the exception of two, escaped. The windows of all the neighbouring houses on shore were smashed, and the surrounding ships suffered more or less severely.

No less than fifteen fires marked the first day of Captain Simonds'

command of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, of which two were very disastrous in their results, in consequence of the fog which delayed the arrival of the fire engines. One of these destroyed the premises of the Bottle Seal Company, in the Eagle Wharf Road, and the other, originating on Messrs. Shoolbred's premises, did very considerable damage to Messrs. Maple's stables, and the large clothing establishment adjoining.

23. The election at Waterford, caused by the death of Mr. Richard Power, resulted in the return of Mr. W. Redmond (Parnellite), who polled 1,775 votes against 1,229 given to Mr. M. Davitt (Nationalist).

24. Two serious railway collisions, both involving loss of life, took place, one on the Great Eastern Railway, near Lowestoft, where, in consequence of the dense fog, one passenger train ran into another, killing three and injuring twelve people. The other was on the New York Central Railway, where, owing to the carelessness of an official, two express trains came into collision near the town of Hastings, New Jersey, and eleven people were killed on the spot, and forty injured.

Archdeacon Straton, Vicar of Wakefield, appointed Bishop of Sodor and Man, in succession to Dr. Bardsley.

25. The fog, which had enveloped London for five days without a break, lifted after nightfall, the frost by which it had been accompanied, also giving

out.

-The influenza epidemic reappeared in various parts of Europe and America, but in a slightly less virulent form. The Empress of Russia at St. Petersburg, the Duchess Isabella of Genoa at Turin, the Emperor of Austria at Vienna, were among the sufferers, whilst, in all the larger towns of the Continent of Europe, Canada, the United States, hundreds of persons were temporarily disabled.

A warrant issued for the apprehension of Mrs. Osborne on the charge of having obtained 550l. from Messrs. Spink on false pretences.

26. An alarm of fire having been raised in the Theatre Royal, Gateshead, in consequence of some paper sweepings catching fire, a panic ensued, and in the rush to the doors nine young persons and the check taker, who were attempting to calm the audience, were crushed to death.

Whilst shooting at Osborne, Prince Christian was accidentally shot in the eye by the Duke of Connaught. The pellet glanced downwards from the tree beneath which the Prince was standing, and entered the eyeball, which had to be removed at once.

The two Englishmen arrested at St. Etienne, on the charge of espionage, found guilty and condemned to fine and imprisonment, for having attempted to suborn a French workman in order to obtain patterns of the carbine and rifle used in the French army.

The Japanese Parliament suddenly dissolved in consequence of the persistent opposition of the majority to the Government measures, and its refusal to vote the supplies required for the service of the year.

27. The new tomb of Innocent III., in the basilica of St. John Lateran, solemnly inaugurated by Pope Leo XIII.

28. Gigantic frauds discovered at St. Petersburg in connection with the steps taken to relieve the famine stricken destitute. One entire consignment of barley flour, purchased at Libau, was heavily adulterated with non-farinaceous and positively unwholesome substances.

28. The Seventh Indian National Congress, attended by over 800 delegates and upwards of 4,000 visitors, opened at Nagpur. A Madras Brahmin was elected President of the Congress, and in his inaugural address he paid an eloquent tribute to Mr. Charles Bradlaugh, "India's champion." The proceedings throughout were most orderly, and the resolutions passed recognised the benefits of English rule.

29. The ceremony of transferring the remains of the British soldiers who died during the Crimean War from Beicos to the Scutari Memorial Cemetery took place, the Sultan being specially represented, and causing all military honours to be shown to the cortège.

Five prisoners succeeded in escaping from the prison at Montpellier, after strangling a warder, as well as another prisoner, who presumedly had refused to join them. Their escape was not discovered for some hours, but all were subsequently re-captured.

30. Fifty persons, including several students and four women, conveyed to the citadel at Warsaw on the charge of being connected with the Nihilist movement. Three small printing presses were also seized by the police.

It was announced that Mr. J. Chamberlain, M.P., would in future lead the Liberal Unionists in the House of Commons, the Duke of Devonshire retaining the general direction of the party.

Sir Robert Morier, G.C.B., transferred from the Embassy of St. Petersburg to that of Rome, and Lord Vivian from the Legation at Brussels to the Embassy at St. Petersburg.

31. A serious explosion of gun cotton or dynamite took place in Dublin Castle, wrecking the offices in the occupation of the Treasury Solicitor, but doing no injury to any one.

The great cooperage works of the Standard Oil Company at Bergen Point, New Jersey, destroyed by fire, the total loss being estimated at a million and a half of dollars.

RETROSPECT

OF

LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART IN 1891.

LITERATURE.

ONCE again Professor Gardiner makes an important contribution to the histories of the year, in the third volume of his History of the Great Civil War (Longmans). In the present volume he examines in detail the events of the years 1747 and 1748, the former of which he considers to be beyond question “the crucial year of Cromwell's career." Beginning with an exhaustive account of the condition of parties early in 1647, Professor Gardiner goes on to describe the influence of the agitators, the abduction of the King, and the army manifestoes which followed that event, discusses with careful minuteness the attitude, the wishes, and the doubts of Cromwell, and then, passing on to the second civil war, pursues his narrative through the year 1648, to the days of the Newport Treaty, of Pride's Purge, and of the King's trial, and ends with a detailed account of "The Last Days of Charles I." It is very satisfactory to find that the more minutely the record of events is examined, and the more the charges brought against Cromwell are tested and considered, by the help of dates and accurate chronology, the easier it. becomes to reconcile the Cromwell depicted by his contemporary opponents with the Cromwell depicted by Carlyle, and the more confidently can Mr. Gardiner assure us that, after all, his hero was 66 brave, honourable man, striving, according to his lights, to lead his countrymen into the path of peace and godliness." Besides this important piece of work, Professor Gardiner has also been able to issue this year another portly volume, which contains in its completed form his Student's History of England (Longmans), from the earliest times down to 1885. The bulk of the volume is, perhaps, a little inconvenient, but its matter and style have all the high qualities which distinguish the author's work, and the numerous portraits, plans, and architectural designs, which illustrate the book, ought to make it very attractive to students. Another eminent historian, Mr. Froude, reappears on a familiar stage of controversy with a new volume on The Divorce of Catherine of Aragon (Longmans). Mr. Froude has not altered his. views since first he wrote upon this subject, and the force of his staunch and eloquent partisanship remains undiminished with the lapse of years. In this volume Mr. Froude re-examines, with fresh elaboration, and with all his old eloquence and charm, the charges against Henry, Catherine, and Anne, and tells again the well-known story of the years between 1526 and 1536. But

we do not feel that very much is added to our previous knowledge, and as we read we find it difficult to forget the axiom with which Mr. Froude's new volume opens, that "the mythic element cannot be eliminated out of history." The same period supplies the theme of the interesting volume in which Mr. J. N. Toller has collected the Correspondence of Edward, Third Earl of Derby, during the Years 24 to 31 Henry VIII. (Chetham Society). In Tudor days the great family of Stanley were a power in the North-west of England, and the third Earl of Derby seems to have kept up the state of a prince, and in his own country to have possessed the authority of a prince as well. The letters illustrate the life of this nobleman, the manner in which he lived, the part he bore in politics, and the rewards he found there. Some of the documents are political, and deal with the Pilgrimage of Grace, in which this Lord Derby took a prominent share on the King's side, with the death of Anne Boleyn, and with other public topics. But others of the papers refer to private matters only, and are not the less interesting on that account.

Another department of history is treated of in Professor Freeman's two volumes upon The History of Sicily (Clarendon Press). In these substantial volumes Professor Freeman gave, always on his colossal scale, the first instalment of a narrative that was to range from the very earliest times, through Greek and Carthaginian, Roman and Byzantine, Moorish, Norman and Teutonic history, down to the death of the famous Emperor Frederick, in the middle of the thirteenth century. To this great labour Professor Freeman brought all his accustomed energy and care, and all his accustomed wealth of digression and detail. The consequence is that the present volumes, in spite of their bulk and their compendious appendices, only bring down the narrative to the date when Athens first began to intervene in the politics of the island. Sir William Muir goes further afield in his volume on The Caliphate; its Rise, Decline, and Fall (Religious Tract Society), to continue his researches into a period of history, in regard to which he has already given proof of knowledge. The first part of the book consists of an account of the early Caliphs, skilfully abridged from an earlier work of the author. In his narrative of these early Caliphs, of AbuBekr, Omar, Othman, and Aly, of the great house of Omeyya, and of their wonderful career of conquest and aggression in East and West, in India and Spain, Sir William Muir writes with keen and eloquent sympathy, and tells his tale with spirit. But when he comes to deal with the Abassides, and the less ambitious glories of their literary court, Sir William Muir shows less enthusiasm. The second part of the volume brings the story down to the fall of the Caliphate under the attacks of the Mongols; and the book ends with a short chapter on the revival of the Caliphate in Egypt, and the assumption of the title by the Othmanly Sultans. A kindred topic forms the subject of Syed Ameer Ali's important book on The Life and Teachings of Mohammed (Allen). This book is interesting because it presents the view of an able and highly educated Mohammedan gentleman, who is also a judge in the High Court of Bengal, upon the Islam of to-day. The author belongs to that advanced type of Moslems which wishes to sweep away all the superstitions, glosses, and accretions which have gathered round his faith, and to revert to the high and simple teaching of the Koran. Syed Ameer Ali writes as an enthusiast for the creed which he owns, and pleads that Mohammed, the apostle of reason, could not have wished to impose on his followers any limited and inelastic dogmas. His narrative of the Prophet's